Mayor Bowser Requests Federal Support as Region Continues to Respond to the Potomac Interceptor Break

(Washington, DC) – Today, as the region continues responding to the Potomac Interceptor break, Mayor Muriel Bowser requested federal support through a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration request. In order to make the request, the Mayor first declared a local public emergency. In addition to seeking 100% reimbursement for costs incurred by the District and the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), the Mayor has requested federal support in the following areas:

Immediate and Near-Term Actions

• Direct FEMA to establish regular interagency coordination calls among federal agencies, affected states, and the District to maintain shared situational awareness and align federal assistance.
• Provide additional federal technical and testing assistance for expanded water quality monitoring, environmental modeling, and engineering support, as needed.
• Direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct and share a comprehensive assessment of the Little Falls intake and Dalecarlia Treatment Plant regarding water quality protection, treatment capacity, backup power, and operational resilience.
• Support consideration of a Small Business Administration declaration should economic impacts meet applicable thresholds.

Long-Term Resilience and Infrastructure Actions

• Accelerate USACE capital improvements to the Washington Aqueduct to strengthen drinking water resilience for federal and District users.
• Direct the National Park Service, and other relevant federal agencies, to collaborate with DC Water to remediate impacted portions of the C&O Canal and adjacent federal lands once repairs are substantially complete.
• Support DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project, which is DC Water's ongoing program to reduce combined sewer overflows into the District's waterways - the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek. The Project is a massive infrastructure program designed to capture and clean wastewater during rainfalls before it ever reaches our rivers.
• Fully fund flood protection improvements at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, which treats approximately 300 million gallons of wastewater per day and serves both local and federal populations. The Blue Plains Floodwall is a DC Water project that was approved under the 2021 BRIC Grant Program. The $20.3 million resilience project is currently on hold following FEMA’s cancellation of the BRIC program, placing critical infrastructure improvements at risk.

While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) serves as the lead regulatory authority for the incident, the District Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) has conducted coordinated inspections with EPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment. DOEE has implemented additional water quality monitoring beyond existing DC Water testing with results published weekly. To date, DOEE has found that E. coli levels in the District (the primary metric used to assess the safety of water contaminated by sewage) are below EPA thresholds for full contact with the water (recreational contact). DOEE recommends continued precautions and avoiding contact with the Potomac River until these results can be confirmed by longer-term sampling.

View the Mayor’s Order.

View the Request for Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration.

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